Peter loved animals and birds and he could understand their language and talk to them too! He enjoyed walking through the forest because he could talk to so many of them.
One day going through the forest he heard someone crying. He looked around and found a small bear sitting under a tree weeping.
“What happened?” asked Peter.
“It’s Papa. He’s mad at me because I like to sing and I didn’t go hunting with him today!” wailed the little bear.
“You sing? Wow!” said Peter, “Let’s hear you.”
The bear, whose name was Binny, promptly wiped his tears and began to sing. He had a beautiful voice and, as he sang, a lot of birds and animals came out to listen. Peter was thrilled.
“Binny, I’ll come back for you tomorrow,” he said.
Peter returned to his house and put on his best dress. Then he went to Mr Loder, a rich man who used to run the theatre. “Sir, would you be able to take a new singer for your show?” asked Peter.
“I’ll think about it, but I need to see what kind of a singer I am taking in,” said Mr Loder.
“He will give an outdoor performance, sir. When can you hear him?”
“Let’s hear him now,” said Mr Loder, and Peter took the bear into the forest. He asked Mr Loder to wait while he called Binny. suddenly, Mr Loder saw Peter returning leading a small bear. The bear had a little banjo in his paws. Mr Loder looked anxious. “This is the singer? Heavens!” he thought.
But when Binny began to sing, Mr Loder had no doubts at all. “This is marvellous! A Singing Bear! He will be a sensation!” said Mr Loder as the song ended.
Mr Loder looked around and saw that many animals and birds had come to hear Binny sing. Suddenly, he found a large bear was staring them. The bear was looking angry.
“Papa,” said Binny in a low voice, “Mr Loder came to hear me sing. My friend, Peter, brought him along. They all think I’m good. Papa, please don’t be angry!” pleaded Binny.
For a minute, it seemed Papa was going to be very angry. Then suddenly, he smiled.
“I know. I heard you, son. I didn’t know you sang so well!” said Papa Bear looking proudly at Binny.
Mr Loder had a new singer for his theatre and he would set up an open-air theatre too! Binny looked at his new friend and gave him a real hug!
